Bret Bielema loves rivalries and the hardware they come with.
Floyd of Rosedale, Paul Bunyan's Axe, the Little Brown Jug. The Illinois coach is pumped by trophy games and border battles.
“It goes on beyond Saturdays,” said Bielema. “When we went to Penn State last year and won, I loved it. It was my 100th win as a college football coach. It's like a hallmark moment for me. But, I promise you, our fans didn't enjoy it as much as when we went to Minnesota and beat them.”
The rivalries Bielema loves could be impacted if the Big Ten ever opts to change how it schedules or decides not to have divisions. Those topics are likely to be discussed when Big Ten coaches and athletic directors meet in Phoenix this week.
A driving force to push discussion of schedule configuration and merits of divisions? Television.
The conference’s six-year, $2.64 billion deals with FOX/BTN and ESPN/ABC expire after the 2022-23 season. And talks have begun.
It seems doubtful the league would move away from the current nine-game conference slate arrangement--which started in 2017. That configuration offers attractive games for TV partners. More traditional matchups equate to more viewers and revenue for the Big Ten from its television partners.
“I think we'll know a lot more (about scheduling) at the end of May, for sure,” said a Big Ten East head coach.
How much money could the new TV contracts bring the Big Ten? The conference makes $440 million annually (roughly $31.4 million per school) from its current deals, which began in 2017.
According to a report in the Sports Business Journal, the Big Ten is expected to secure new TV contracts before the fall semester. Interest from CBS, FOX and NBC, among others, should ensure that the conference will see a hefty increase from the $440 million it currently makes.
One way to sweeten the pot of TV money is to offer desirable matchups. Perhaps that’s a goal that could be achieved with some type of scheduling model that saw the Big Ten end its East-West divisional format.
“I get it,” said Bielema. “I know TV money is a huge issue, contracts, games. But, bottom line, we're all still trying to keep the fans in the stands. Bottom line, Illinois vs. Wisconsin, Illinois vs. Iowa, Illinois vs. Northwestern, people like those games. Fans know each other, right? Because they’re neighbors. I know what Wisconsin fans are gonna call me now (Illinois plays in Madison in 2022).”
If the East-West divisional format—adopted in 2014—would be scrapped, the Big Ten would line up 1-14. One possible idea for league scheduling under that alignment: Each school would have three permanent Big Ten opponents, with some type of rotation established for the other six league games.
“I think you do have to have two or three consistent teams that you'll play as crossovers, constant rivalries,” said the Big Ten East head coach. “Two at minimum would be good. And then from there, I just think a rotational basis.
“I know that we've had this conversation since I've been in the Big Ten, just the benefits of having a young person be able to play at every facility in a four-year period. They can play in every place in the conference, so get a chance to do that. So, I think there's probably ways they can do it. I don't know if you can do it by pods or however they choose to do it. I don't want to see us lose the rivalries that we have. I think that's very important for our conference.”
One agent for perhaps ditching divisions: The coming expanded College Football Playoff, likely to be a 12-team format. The contract for the current four-team playoff model will expire after the 2025 season.
"The only thing that matters is the College Football Playoff,” said a Big Ten West head coach.
The Big Ten wants to be positioned to get as many teams as possible in the revamped playoff format that is coming. The conference has won just one College Football Playoff title, with Ohio State taking the championship in the 2014 season. (The Big Ten has played in just one other title game, with the Buckeyes losing to Alabama in the championship game after the 2020 season.)
"There's two ways to look at it," said a Big Ten defensive coordinator. "You got to get your best teams in the playoff, but also you have to create your best TV content."
That means more matchups between marquee brands. It does little good to have top programs in a league if they aren't playing often.
"So, I think that's a part of it, as well, where you make it to an era of schedules not being balanced," said the coordinator. "That's why we have to expand the playoff greatly for that exact reason. How are you gonna make it work in the (soon-to-be-16-team) SEC? That's not even a conference. That's two conferences."
A big reason to keep divisions? Rivalries.
“I think it's created great rivalries,” said the Big Ten West head coach. “We've already had enough change over the last decade going from Legends and Leaders (2011-13) and now to East-West. Yeah, I think there's really good rivalries on both sides.”
That same Big Ten West head coach thinks the league should pump the brakes on making any changes to divisions ... or scheduling.
“If they're going to expand the football playoff, we don't know what those bullet points are,” he said. “We got told we had to go to nine league games, we were told strength of schedule was going to be the number one component after winning your conference. Well, that wasn't true.
“So, I think we gotta be very careful as a league, making decisions without knowing what the variables are that are gonna be evaluated for a College Football Playoff expansion. I think right now, our (Big Ten) product is not broken, and I wouldn't break it.”
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